About us

"Delivering the data that promote evidence-based social research and policies"

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Data are the lifeblood of research. We are here to provide the social science community with a protected pipeline to this valuable public resource.

The UK Data Service is a comprehensive resource funded by the ESRC to support researchers, teachers and policymakers who depend on high-quality social and economic data.

Here you will find a single point of access to a wide range of secondary data including large-scale government surveys, international macrodata, business microdata, qualitative studies and census data from 1971 to 2011.

All are backed with extensive support, training and guidance to meet the needs of data users, owners and creators.

We promote data sharing to encourage the reuse of data, and provide expertise in developing best practice for research data management.

Use the Discover interface to explore our data collection, user guides and supporting materials. All documentation and resources are freely available. When you're ready to download data, see our Advice for new users page for guidance.